The present application claims priority to Korean Application No. 10-2007-0006267 filed in Korea on Jan. 19, 2007, and to Korean Application No. 10-2007-0038514 filed in Korea on Apr. 19, 2007, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
1. Field
A compressor and an oil blocking device therefor are disclosed herein.
2. Background
Compressors are known. However, they suffer from various disadvantages.
Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements, and wherein:
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Generally, a compressor is a device for converting mechanical energy into compression energy to compress a fluid. Compressors are divided into various kinds including a reciprocating compressor, a rotary compressor, a vane compressor, and a scroll compressor according to the method for compressing a fluid.
A scroll compressor may be provided with a driving motor that generates a driving force in a hermetic casing, and a compression device that compresses a refrigerant by receiving the driving force generated by the driving motor. The compression device may include an orbiting scroll coupled to a driving or rotational shaft of the driving motor that performs an orbit motion with respect to a fixed scroll to form a pair of compression chambers. As the compression chambers move towards a center, a refrigerant is consecutively compressed and then discharged.
When the driving motor rotates, oil contained in the inner space of the casing is sucked along the driving shaft to lubricate the compression device and cool the driving motor. However, such scroll compressors, when the driving motor rotates at a low speed, a pumping force for the oil is weak and vapor in the oil blocks an oil passage in the rotational shaft. Accordingly, an amount of oil supplied to the compression chambers is decreased increasing friction between the fixed scroll and the orbiting scroll. On the other hand, when the driving motor rotates at a high speed, an amount of spread oil is increased, supplying a large amount of oil to the compression chambers along with the refrigerant. Accordingly, a leakage amount of oil is increased, lowering reliability of the compressor. Also, as an amount of the supplied oil increases, a suction amount of the refrigerant decreases, lowering the reliability of the compressor.
Hereinafter, a scroll compressor and oil blocking device therefor according to embodiments will be explained in detail. Embodiments are disclosed herein implemented in a scroll compressor. However, embodiments may be implemented in other type compressors as well. Further, the scroll compressor may be a high side type scroll compressor or a low side type compressor.
As shown in
The casing 10 may include a body 11, which may have having a cylindrical shape. The driving motor 20 and the compression device 30 may be installed at upper and lower portions of an inner circumferential surface of the casing 10. The casing 10 may further include an upper cap 12 and a lower cap 13 that hermetically cover upper and lower sides of the body 11.
A main frame 14 and a sub-frame 15 having axial holes 14a and 15a that support a rotational shaft 23 of the driving motor 20, respectively, may be fixed to upper and lower sides of the body 11. An oil level pipe 16a and an oil collecting pipe 16b, which each may be connected to a refrigerating cycle system, and that maintaining a predetermined amount of oil may be communicated with a lower portion of the body 11. The oil collecting pipe 16b may be positioned to be lower than the oil level pipe 16a.
The main frame 14 may include an axial hole 14a penetratingly formed at a center thereof, an oil pocket 14b, which may be disposed on an upper end of the axial hole 14a to collect oil sucked through the rotational shaft 23, an oil collecting hole 14c, which may be disposed at one side on an outer circumferential surface of the oil pocket 14b to collect the oil inside the oil pocket 14b to the casing 10, and an oil supplying hole 14d, which may be disposed at another side on the outer circumferential surface of the oil pocket 14b to partially supply the oil inside the oil pocket 14b to the compression chambers P. An oil blocking device or unit 17 that prevents oil from spreading onto a balance weight 24 by receiving the axial hole 14a may be disposed adjacent a lower surface of the main frame 14.
The oil blocking device 17 may have a cylindrical shape, as shown in
A separating device 18 that separates the driving motor 20 and the compression device 30 may be provided on the outer circumference of the oil blocking device 17, which may be disc shaped. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
A refrigerant passage 18b that passes a refrigerant by connecting upper and lower sides of the casing 10 to each other on the basis of the separating device 18 may be formed at another side on the outer circumferential surface of the separating device 18. An oil separating plate (not shown) that separates oil from refrigerant sucked through the suction pipe SP may be inserted or communicated to/with the refrigerant passage 18b. The refrigerant passage 18b may be formed in a lower pressure type scroll compressor where the inner space of the casing 10 is filled with suction pressure, but may not be formed in a higher pressure type scroll compressor where the inner space of the casing 10 is filled with discharge pressure.
When the separating device 18 is provided with the oil blocking device 17, an oil drain guide passage (not shown) through which oil discharged from a discharge port 31c of the fixed scroll 31 together with a refrigerant may be guided to the oil drain passage 18a may be formed in the main frame 14 or the fixed scroll 31.
As shown in
As shown in
One or more oil collecting grooves 22c that enhance a heat emitting effect by passing collected oil into the rotor 22 may be formed on a circumferential surface of the axial hole 22a. The oil collecting grooves 22c may be formed in a shaft lengthwise direction, or in a direction inclined from a central longitudinal axis of the shaft. When being slantingly formed, the oil collecting groove 22c may be formed in a rotational direction of the rotational shaft 23 so as to smoothly collect oil.
The rotational shaft 23 may be provided with an oil passage 23a therein penetratingly formed in a shaft lengthwise direction. Oil passing holes 23b through which sucked oil may be supplied to the axial holes 14a and 15a of the main frame 14 and the sub-frame 15 may be formed in a radial direction at upper and lower sides of the oil passage 23a. One or more gas discharge holes 23c through which gas sucked through the oil passage 23a together with oil may be discharged outside the oil passage 23a may be formed between the oil passing holes 23b.
As shown in
As shown in
A pump driving device 23e coupled to the inner gear 25a of the trochoid gear pump may be integrally formed at a lower end of the rotational shaft 23. A driving surface 23f that rotates the inner gear 25a by being engaged with the inner gear 25a may be disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the pump driving device 23e.
As shown in
The trochoid gear pump may have a plurality of inlets with height differences so that a predetermined amount of oil may always be pumped regardless of a mixed degree between oil and refrigerant. For instance, when oil and refrigerant are mixed with each other at an acceptable state, both the oil and the refrigerant are pumped through both inlets. On the contrary, when the refrigerant and the oil are mixed with each other at an inferior state in which the refrigerant is disposed below the oil, only the refrigerant may be pumped through an inlet disposed at a lower side resulting in oil deficiency. However, if the inlets are disposed with height differences, the oil disposed at an upper side may be pumped together with the refrigerant, thus enhancing a lubricating performance.
As shown in
The orbiting scroll 32 may be formed so that an orbiting wrap 32a forming the pair of compression chambers P together with the fixed wrap 31a of the fixed scroll 31 may have an involute shape at an upper surface of the plate portion 31d of the orbiting scroll 32. A boss portion 32b coupled to the rotational shaft 23 and receiving a rotational force generated by the driving motor 20 may be formed at a center of the lower surface of the plate portion 32d.
As shown in
Operation of a scroll compressor according to an embodiment disclosed herein will be explained herein below.
When power is supplied to the driving motor 20, the rotational shaft 23 rotates together with the rotor 22 to transmit a rotational force to the orbiting scroll 32. Then, the orbiting scroll 32 performs an orbiting motion on an upper surface of the main frame 14 due to the Oldham's ring 33 by an eccentric distance. Accordingly, the compression chambers P that consecutively move are formed between the fixing wrap 31b of the fixed scroll 31 and the orbiting wrap 32b of the orbiting scroll 32. As the orbiting scroll 32 continuously performs the orbiting motion, the compression chambers P move towards the center thus to have a decreased volume, thereby compressing a sucked refrigerant. Then, the compressed refrigerant is discharged to the discharge space S2 of the casing 10 through the discharge port 31c of the fixed scroll 31, to the refrigerating cycle system through the refrigerant discharge pipe DP, and the above processes are repeated.
The trochoid gear pump 25 disposed at a lower side of the rotational shaft 23 pumps oil contained in the casing 10 using a capacity formed between the inner gear 25a and the outer gear 25b thereof. Then, the oil is sucked to an upper end of the rotational shaft 23 through the oil passage 23a. Some of the oil is supplied to the axial holes 14a and 15a of the main frame 14 and the sub frame 15 through the oil passage holes 23b, and the other is spread from the upper end of the rotational shaft 23. Then, the oil spread from the upper end of the rotational shaft 23 is stored in the oil pocket 14b of the main frame 14. Some of the oil is collected in the oil collecting hole 14c of the casing 10, and the other is moved to a thrust bearing surface of the main frame 14 through the oil supplying hole 14d to be supplied to the compression chambers P through the oil injecting hole 32c of the orbiting scroll 32.
While the rotational shaft 23 rotates or the trochoid gear pump pumps oil, foam generated from the oil may be introduced into the oil passage 23a, preventing the oil from being sucked to the compressor. However, the gas is discharged from the oil passage 23a through the gas discharge hole 23c disposed in the middle portion of the rotational shaft 23. Accordingly, the oil may be smoothly supplied or sucked to the compressor.
Oil collected after being used to lubricate the axial hole 14a of the main frame 14 may be spread by being stirred by the balance weight 24. However, the oil is not spread into the casing 10 by the oil blocking device 17 disposed at a lower surface of the main frame 14, and then is separated from refrigerant and collected. The collected oil is supplied to the coil 21a of the stator 21 by the oil blocking device 17 or the oil guiding portion 17a of the oil blocking device 17, thereby cooling the coil 21a. As shown in
Accordingly, when the driving motor is rotated at a high speed, oil is prevented from being excessively supplied to the compression chamber of the compression device. As a result, an amount of a refrigerant sucked to the compression chamber is increased, enhancing efficiency of the compressor.
Also, even when the driving motor is rotated at a low speed, an amount of oil supplied to the compression chamber through the oil supplying hole and the oil injecting hole may always be constant. Accordingly, abrasion of the fixed scroll and the orbiting scroll due to oil deficiency may be prevented, and a performance of the compressor enhanced by reducing frictional loss. When the rotational shaft of the driving motor is rotated at a high speed, oil stirred by the balance weight may be prevented from spreading by the oil blocking device. Accordingly, oil mixed with refrigerant may be prevented from being excessively introduced into the compression chamber. As a result, an amount of oil leaked to the refrigerating cycle system together with compressed refrigerant may be reduced, thereby preventing reduced performance of the compressor due to oil deficiency.
Since the driving motor may be implemented as a synchronous reluctance motor, the compressor may have an enhanced performance when rotated at a low speed. Herein, a heat emitting amount of the motor may be decreased, expanding a driving region of the compressor.
Further, since the balance weight may be coupled to the rotational shaft, transformation of the rotational shaft due to an eccentric load of the driving motor may be prevented. Also, the eccentric load of the driving motor may be effectively compensated with a reduced weight of the balance weight.
Since a trochoid gear pump may be used as the oil pump, time during which oil supply is stopped due to a suction pressure change and a liquid refrigerant vaporization may be reduced. Also, the trochoid gear pump may be directly coupled to the rotational shaft, reducing the number of components and assembly processes.
Embodiments disclosed herein provide a scroll compressor capable of always maintaining a predetermined amount of oil regardless of a rotational speed of a driving motor.
In accordance with an embodiment broadly described herein, there is provided a scroll compressor that includes a casing having a hermetic inner space for contain oil therein a driving motor disposed at the inner space of the casing a compression device or unit coupled to a rotational shaft of the driving motor, disposed at the inner space of the casing, and forming a compression chamber as a fixing scroll and an orbiting scroll are engaged to each other, a frame fixedly disposed between the driving motor and the compression unit, for supporting the rotational shaft of the driving motor and the compression unit, an oil blocking device or unit disposed between the driving motor and the compression unit, for preventing oil from being introduced into the compression chamber, and an oil supplying device or unit for supplying oil sucked through the rotational shaft to the compression chamber.
In accordance with another embodiment broadly described herein, there is provided a scroll compressor that includes a casing having a hermetic inner space for containing oil therein, a driving motor disposed at the inner space of the casing, and having a rotational shaft to which a balance weight is integrally coupled and a compression device or unit coupled to the rotational shaft of the driving motor, disposed at the inner space of the casing, and forming a compression chamber as a fixing scroll and an orbiting scroll are engaged to each other. An oil passage may be penetratingly formed in the rotational shaft in a shaft direction, and one or more gas discharge holes may be penetratingly formed in the middle of the oil passage in a radial direction.
Although an exemplary scroll compressor is presented herein, for ease of discussion, it is well understood that this can be equally applied to other types of compressors, or another application in which this type of oil blocking is required and/or advantageous.
More specifically, the compressor and oil blocking device therefor according to embodiments disclosed herein has numerous applications in which compression of fluid is required, and in different types of compressors. Such applications may include, for example, air conditioning and refrigeration applications. One such exemplary application is shown in
Another such exemplary application is shown in
Another such exemplary application is shown in
Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.
Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure. More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims. In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2007-0006267 | Jan 2007 | KR | national |
10-2007-0038514 | Apr 2007 | KR | national |